The Vampire of New York City
by E. Limberg
Summary: A new serial killer begins to haunt the city. He gives the CSIs all they need to lock him up, but they are unable to match a name to the evidence they have. Who is he really targeting? Eventually Mac and Stella.
1. Victim Number One

**The Vampire of New York City**

**Chapter 1: Victim Number One**

Stella lifts up the crime scene tape and steps into the alley, "What have we got?"

"Female, late twenties or early thirties. No ID. It looks like she was raped. She's got some kind of bite mark on her neck. No other visible signs of trauma. Mac is on his way," Flack reports.

"Who found her?"

The detective motions to a man standing on the other side of the police tape, "He owns the coffee shop next door. Found her when he was taking his garbage out this morning. Didn't touch anything and called 911 right away."

She nods, "Okay. I'll start with the body."

Stella sets down her kit and pulls out a pair of latex gloves. After putting them on, she takes out her camera and photographs the body and surrounding area. Frowning at the bite mark on the woman's neck, she crouches down to take a couple close ups of the wound. Her frown deepens as she realizes that there is no visible blood in the alley. Setting her camera down, she gets her UV light out and goes around the alley in search of blood, starting with the area around the body.

Mac is pulling gloves on when she turns the light off. "Something wrong?" he asks, seeing the puzzled look on her face.

"A good morning would be nice."

"Good morning, Stella," he smiles. "Now… what about the body?"

"Our victim was bitten. It looks human, and it was definitely deep enough to draw blood. But I can't find any trace of blood in the alley."

"Maybe our killer cleaned it up. Or maybe this isn't the primary crime scene."

She shakes her head, "No, I'm sure this is the primary crime scene. There are impressions here in the dirt. See, these two look like impressions from his knees, and these could be from his toes. Like he was straddling her. Why kill her somewhere else and rape her here, when she's already dead?"

"Any other trauma?"

"None that I can see."

"Got an ID on her?"

"Flack couldn't find one."

Mac looks around the alley, and his gaze stops on the dumpster, "We're not done looking yet."

"I am not getting in there, Mac," Stella glares at him.

He glares back at her, "I'm your boss. You will do as I say."

"No. I got here first; I claim the body. You can go dumpster diving."

"I don't have any coveralls."

"You're in luck; I've got a pair in my trunk," she goes out to her car and returns a minute later. "If you're too embarrassed to change out here, I'm sure the nice man over there that found the body will let you use the bathroom in his coffee shop."

"Hold this," he hands her his jacket and begins to unbutton his dress shirt. He hands this to her too when it is off of his body. "You owe me, Bonasera."

"Are you going to take your pants off too so they don't get ruined?" she smirks as he begins to put the coveralls on. He just glares at her again. "You know, Mac, you don't have to completely undress to go dumpster diving. Has it been that long since you've had to do it?"

"I don't have any more clothes to change into at the lab."

"Is that why it took you so long to get here? You spent the night at the lab again? Mac, you need to go home. And for longer than to pick up more clothes," she scolds. "Why are you staying at the lab again? I thought we got past that stage a long time ago."

He doesn't give her an answer before he walks over to the dumpster.

Sighing, she goes to put his clothes in her car and resumes her work with the body, taking samples of the area around the bite mark in hopes of getting DNA from her attacker. She then scrapes under the victim's fingernails and lifts a hair from the woman's shirt, too dark to belong to her.

"Stel, I think I found something," Mac calls.

She tells the men from the ME's office to go ahead and take the body back to the morgue before going over to the dumpster. "What do you have?"

"A purse," he hands it to her and continues his search.

"We got an ID," she says, locating the wallet. "Our victim is Elisa Walters." Stella goes over to bag the purse.

"You might want to bring me a couple bags," he calls.

"Got something else?" she asks as she approaches the dumpster.

He holds up a condom, "Could belong to our killer."

As Flack is walking over, Mac pulls another one out of the dumpster. She holds an evidence bag up for him. "Find anything interesting?"

"A name. Elisa Walter," she informs him.

"And these," Mac holds up two more condoms, which he puts in the bags she offers him.

"Must be a hot spot," Stella smirks. "Got them all?"

He gives her a look telling her that he is going to get her back for this. "Nothing else of interest in here," he climbs out of the dumpster.

"I'll print it while you go change. Your shirt's in my car."

Flack looks from Stella to Mac, confused. He decides not to comment about this. "I'm going to run the vic's name. Let me know when you find something," the detective leaves the two CSIs alone.

Mac goes to change while she finishes up. A few minutes later she joins him with both of their kits. "Want to grab some coffee before we go to the lab? Or in your case, back to the lab? I'll buy."

"You owe me more than coffee, Stella," he says, following her into the little shop.

**A/N: I don't really know how I came up with this idea. I actually came up with how I wanted it to end first, but it didn't really turn out like I wanted it too so hopefully you guys still like it. There are twelve more chapters I believe. So... keep reading and I'll update soon. **


	2. Missing Blood

**Chapter 2: Missing Blood**

Mac puts on his lab coat as he joins Stella, "Got anything?"

"Some prints from the handle of her purse. Probably hers… but maybe not. I'm running the prints from the dumpster through AFIS now. I'll wait to run these until I can compare them to the victim's fingerprints. I gave Adam the scrapings from her nails and the swab I took from around the bite mark. And the hair I got off of her shirt. Um… I think that's all. We have to go see Sid to get the victim's clothes and fingerprints and DNA. Think he's done yet?"

"It's only been an hour and a half since we released the body, Stel. He might not have even started yet."

"Maybe we should have taken a longer coffee break," she smiles.

"What about the condoms?" he asks.

She points to a pile of evidence bags on the table, "I haven't gotten to swabbing them for Adam yet."

"I'll do it," Mac offers, putting on a pair of gloves and removing each one from its bag and laying it on the table.

Flack knocks on the door, "I'm off to inform the mother. I take it you guys don't have anything?"

"Nope."

"I called her building supervisor; he said he'd open up her apartment to you guys whenever you want to look at it. But he prefers that you not come in the middle of the night."

"Okay, we'll go after Sid finishes the autopsy."

"And Mac, you're only supposed to use one at a time," he smiles, looking down at what Mac is analyzing. "They're actually less effective if you use more than one."

"Only you would try to use more than one at a time, Don," Stella teases. "I'm quite surprised that you're not a father yet. Or didn't you tell all those girls you had one-night stands with your name so they could find you later?"

"Like you should be talking, Bonasera. Rogers told me you were flirting with him. A girl would have to be pretty low to do that," Flack smirks.

"Enough," Mac silences them. "Back to work."

Flack leaves, and Stella looks back down at the computer screen in front of her. "Didn't get a match in AFIS on any of the prints from the dumpster. Most probably belong to people who work in the nearby stores and the people that those," she looks over at Mac and the condoms, "belong to. For all we know he was wearing gloves."

He remains focused on his work. Once he is done swabbing, he puts the evidence away and looks up at her. "Was Flack telling the truth?"

She gives him an amused look, "You mean you've never read the directions, Mac? I would've thought that you would know about that sort of thing since you're a guy."

"I meant what he said about you."

"No, I never flirted with Rogers, at least not intentionally. But he's a complete idiot; he probably took something the wrong way."

"So you're not seeing anyone? Not that it's any of my business."

"No, I'm not. Whenever a guy asks, I can't help but think about the last time… last two times I should say," she admits. "But enough about my personal life. Why are you sleeping in the lab again, Mac?"

He shrugs, "I can't sleep at home. I just lay awake all night."

"Yet you can sleep on the couch in your office?" He does not answer. "I guess you're not seeing anyone either."

"No, ever since Peyton…" he stops, remembering again the pain she had caused when she broke up with him.

Stella puts a hand on his arm, "Why don't we go see how Sid is doing with the autopsy?"

Five minutes later they step out of the elevator and into the morgue. Sid is stitching up their victim, "I was just going to call you two."

"So what can you tell us about her death?" Mac asks, he and his partner stepping up to the opposite side of the autopsy table.

"It appears that she was raped; I collected a sexual assault kit, but I believe he wore a condom," Sid says, taking his glasses off.

Mac and Stella look at each other. "We found plenty of those at the scene."

"What's cause of death?" Mac asks.

"She died of loss of blood. The human body has an average of five liters of blood; I'd guess a little less than that in her case, given her size and gender. I'd estimate that about half of that is not in her body."

"Well, it wasn't in that alley," Stella looks at Mac. "Where did it go?"

"If you wait just a minute, I may have an answer for you," Sid tells her. "Now, I had her put through the scanner. It appears that she was unconscious when all of this happened. She suffered from blunt force trauma to the back of her head, which knocked her out. Which is why there aren't any defense wounds on her body."

"What about this?" Mac points to the bite mark on her neck.

"The teeth severed her carotid artery. At first glance, I'd guess human. But I took a cast for you," he hands the mold to Stella, who looks at it curiously. "As you can see, the teeth are not like those of a normal human being, but I am relatively sure that they do belong to a human. Now, this and the lack of blood lead me to believe that you are looking for a vampire."


	3. Dead Ends

**Chapter 3: Dead Ends**

"There are two prints on her purse that do not belong to her. I ran them through AFIS and didn't get a match. But I checked them against the prints on the dumpster, and they match two of the prints on the dumpster. Which doesn't help us find this vampire," Stella sighs, frustrated.

"Nothing on her clothes that can help us," Mac pulls his gloves off.

Adam enters, "I, uh, have some good news and some bad news."

"Go on," the boss says.

"The DNA from the bite mark matched the DNA from the hair Stella pulled off the victim which matched DNA from the scrapings under her nails. I ran all eight samples from the condoms you guys found. I got a couple matches, but they probably aren't relevant to the case. Now, condom number two had DNA that matched both the victim and the unknown DNA found on the victim. I ran Sid's sexual assault kit; the DNA was all the vic's."

"Another dead end with DNA," Stella sighs again. "He's not in the system, and we have no other trace of him in the alley. What now?"

"We'll go to the vic's apartment."

"I doubt we'll find anything there."

"So you're just going to give up? That's not the Stella I know," he gives her a small smile.

"I never said that," she smiles back, pulling her lab coat off.

*********

"I told you we weren't going to get anything here," Stella says smugly as they give up the search in Elisa Walter's apartment.

"Fine, you were right," he concedes.

"So now what do we do? We have his fingerprints, his DNA… enough to take him to court. We just don't know who he is."

"There has to be something."

"We can wait until he kills again. Maybe he won't be as careful next time and give us more to work with."

"Again?"

"Mac, not only do we have no leads, but we have no idea why he killed her. As far as we can tell, it's completely random. Of course, it would help if we knew who he was."

"The teeth," Mac suddenly says.

"What about them?"

"Maybe he went to a dentist. It should be easy for them to say if he's been there, whether it's some congenital disorder or a form of dental plastic surgery."

"There's got to be over a hundred dentists in the area. We can't go question all of them. He'll probably kill again before we get through a tenth of them."

"What else do we have, Stella?" he asks.

"I'll call Adam and have him get us a list of dentists in New York City. We'll start there. If we don't get anything, we'll expand our area," she takes her gloves off and pulls out her cell phone as she heads into the hallway of the apartment building.

Mac joins her in the hallway with their kits, waiting patiently for her to finish her conversation. When she turns around, she finds him staring at her. "What?"

"If there's another body, you are climbing in the dumpster."

"I don't think so."

"Anyway, it's four-thirty now. By the time we get back to the lab, most dentists will be closed for the day. And there's nothing else for us to do right now so… do you want to grab something to eat with me on the way back?"

"Sure."

Twenty-five minutes later they are seated in a diner a few blocks from the lab. The waitress brings their drinks and takes their order. "So… you never really answered my question," Stella informs him.

"What question?"

"Why are you sleeping in the lab?"

"Yes, I did. I said that I sleep better in the lab. Well, not really anymore…" he trails off, and she patiently waits for him to explain. "I… have nightmares when I'm at home. About Claire; she's in the towers or in some other dangerous situation, and I can't reach her. But lately… you've been in her place. I used to only have them at home, but now it happens anywhere. I don't think I've gotten more than four hours of sleep since I lost her. Except when you stayed with me. Even with Peyton they still happened."

"Mac, I'm not going anywhere," she gently reaches across the table and places her hand on top of his. He turns his hand over so that they can intertwine their fingers. She gets up from her seat opposite him, keeping their hands together, and slides into the booth next to him.

"I know you won't leave me, but the nightmare just seems so realistic."

"Do you want me to stay with you?" He doesn't give her a verbal answer, but she can see his response in his blue eyes. "I'll be over by nine."


	4. Victim Number Two

**Chapter 4: Victim Number Two**

"Stella," Mac whispers, shaking her shoulder gently. "We have a scene to process."

She slowly starts to stir, "What time is it?"

"A little after six. Get up, sleepyhead, or the day is going to waste away."

"Six is too early," she mumbles.

He gets himself up and heads to the bathroom to take a quick shower, deciding to let her sleep for a few more minutes. When he comes out of the bathroom ten minutes later to grab a change of clothes, she is not in the bed. He figures she went to fill her caffeine addiction in the kitchen. As he finishes buttoning his shirt, she returns, two steaming mugs in her hands. "We're leaving in fifteen minutes so you'd better not take a long shower," he says, taking the mug from her hand.

"I showered last night before I came over," she sets her mug down, now awake, and pulls an outfit out of her bag. Exactly twelve minutes later she meets him in the kitchen.

He hands her two pieces of toast with strawberry jelly on them, just how she always has them when they have breakfast together. "How'd you sleep?"

"I think I should be asking you that."

"Very well. I don't think I've slept that long since before Claire died."

"Are you going to need my services again tonight?" she smirks.

"Do I have to pay you for both nights, or do you have some sort of a discount?" he keeps a straight face and holds the door open for her.

"For you, I think I can arrange a discount. Or we could just say that I don't owe you for making you do dumpster duty anymore."

"Hm… I'll get back to you on that."

"I suppose you're going to make me get in the dumpster today," she says as she slides into the passenger seat of his Avalanche.

"The body's in the park," he simply says.

"Did Flack say whether the body was like yesterday's victim?"

"No, he just said there was a body in the park and gave me the location."

*****

Upon seeing the body, Mac and Stella look at each other. "I told you so," she gives him a smug look. "I really wish I had been wrong though."

He sets his case down and pulls on a pair of gloves, "Do you want the body or the surrounding area?"

"I'll take the body."

After fifteen minutes of searching, he squats down beside her, "I've got nothing. Not even a condom."

"Maybe he didn't wear one this time. Anyway, I don't have anything new here. You want to check the purse? He left it right next to her this time."

"ID says Dawn McAdams. I, uh, think I found the missing condom," he pulls it out of the purse. She hands him a bag to put it in. "There's something else. But it could just be something she had in there." Mac pulls out a folded half sheet of blank white paper. After opening and reading it, he offers it to her.

"Star, only you can put an end to this. The Vampire of New York City," she reads, frowning. "Well, I think it was left by our killer. But who's Star?"

He shrugs, "Maybe it's a nickname."

Flack joins them, "Got anything different from the other scene?"

"A note," Stella holds it up so he can read it.

"Who's Star?" he looks between the two of them.

"That part is your job," she smiles. "Good luck."

"Anything else?"

"No, everything else is the same as the other scene. DNA will all match, but we won't get a match in CODIS."

"He's smart. He leaves us DNA and fingerprints, enough to put him away. But it does us no good if we can't match it to a name. And he gives us no other evidence to go by."

"We have the teeth and the note. It's a start," Mac says.

"Okay, I'll get to work with this Star person. You guys head back to the lab and confirm that this is the same person," Flack directs, starting to head to his car.

"Hey, Don, who found the body?"

"Some guy jogging in the park. He was terrified; it seemed real. I doubt he had anything to do with this. And he didn't have any fangs."

The two CSIs wait while the body is loaded on the gurney. As he lifts the woman's head, the ME's assistant frowns. He picks up her head again and peers underneath it. "If feels like she was hit on the back of the head," he tells the two detectives.

"That's consistent with the other body."

"It feels like it shattered part of her skull."

"Be sure to tell Sid about it," Mac tells the young man. He looks back at Stella, "What are you thinking?"

"I don't get it, Mac. How does he do this? How can he suck the blood out of his victims and not leave a drop of blood anywhere?" she asks, focusing on the ground before them.

"What kind of sick person drinks the blood from another human being?"

"We're going to find out. I hope."

He touches her arm to consol her, "Of course we will, Stella." After voicing her name, he freezes, his mind suddenly moving even faster than before.

"What's wrong?" she looks at him curiously.

"What if that letter is addressed to you?"

"How can it be? No one calls me Star."

"Stella means Star. But… why you?"

"I think that's a long shot, Mac. How would he know that one of the detectives working the case is named Stella? And why am I the only one that can stop him? I'm sure there are plenty of other detectives that can solve this case."

"Maybe he wants something from you."

"Maybe. And maybe we're just desperate and grasping at strings here. I really don't think this has anything to do with me."


	5. One Vampire

**Chapter 5: One Vampire**

"I'd place TOD between midnight and two this morning, like the other woman. Everything is the same as the other victim, everything except the head wound. She was also hit in the back of the head and knocked unconscious, but the killer used so much force that it fractured her skull. I took a couple pictures for you guys; maybe you can figure out what he's hitting them with," Sid hands Stella a pile of photographs.

"We might be able to," Mac says, looking over her shoulder at the pictures.

"I made another mold of the bite mark, but I don't know how likely it is that there are two vampires in New York at the same time."

"Thanks," he takes the mold. "Is that it?"

"I sent a sexual assault kit up to Adam. Oh, this woman did not have anything under her nails like the previous victim. Just to let you know…" the ME pulls his glasses off of his nose.

"She's missing half her blood too?" Stella questions.

"More or less."

"Thanks, Sid." The two detectives head to the elevators. "Do you want the note or the teeth?" he asks as they step inside.

She grabs the mold from his hand, "The teeth. I'll compare the molds and make sure it's the same person. And then I have tons of phone calls to make."

"Okay. The list of dentists is on my desk. I'm going to process the note and see if we can learn anything else about our killer. And then I'll look at those pictures Sid gave us; maybe his weapon of choice will help us find him."

"Weapons."

"What?" he glances at her, confused.

"Weapons. His teeth and what he uses to knock them out."

"Okay. We'll meet in the conference room at three to see what we've got."

"Alright," Stella heads to the evidence locker and retrieves the mold made from Elisa's neck. After five minutes of comparison, she concludes that the two molds are identical. "One vampire," she says to herself. Once she has photographed the molds to show the dentists, she loads them onto the computer and puts the evidence back in the locker.

She then grabs the list from Mac's office before heading to her own, making herself comfortable in her chair. "Hello, this is Detective Bonasera from the New York Crime Lab. I was wondering if Dr. Albright could take a look at some photographs for me concerning a murder," she requests.

"I understand that he is busy, but it will only take a few moments. The set of teeth is very… unique, and it is very important that we identify the person they belong to so that he does not harm more women," she explains as the secretary tries to brush her off.

"Thank you. If you could give me an email or fax, I can send them to you right now. He can look at them when he has a minute, and let me know whether the owner is a patient of his," she writes down the fax number. "Thank you for your cooperation."

She sends the photos to the dentist and continues with the next name on the list. The conversation is very similar to the previous one. For the next two hours, Stella continues making calls with no luck; no one recognized the fangs that belong to their killer.

*****

Mac sighs in frustration; the paper was plain white printer paper that was used all over the country, and the ink was from a common black pen. Nothing unique.

Adam knocks on the door, "I got the results back on the DNA. It was all from either the victim or the killer, same guy as in the other case."

"One killer. That's good."

"Is there anything else I can do to help?"

"Sid gave us pictures of the second victim's skull; the weapon he used to knock her unconscious cracked her skull. Is there any way to identify it using the computer?"

"There isn't a database for weapons yet," Adam shakes his head. "But I can help you try to identify it by hand."

"Okay," the detective hands the lab tech the pictures.

"Too narrow for a baseball bat. Too wide for a pipe. Kind of irregular shaped."

*****

"We're at a dead end with DNA and fingerprints. What about the note?" Stella asks.

"No luck. Generic paper and black pen."

"I'm not having any luck with Star. There is nobody in the city or the state with Star as either a first or last name. So… it's most likely a nickname and we probably can't track this person down."

"Another dead end. Any luck with the weapons?"

Mac shakes his head, "We're still working on it. Did you get anything on the teeth?"

"I've called fourteen local dentists so far; thirteen of them don't recognize the teeth, and the other one has not returned my call yet."

"Keep working on that; Adam and I will try to ID the weapon. Flack, we got a couple matches from the condoms in the dumpster; why don't you pay those people a visit and see if they know anything?"

"Okay," Don says, heading out of the room.

Once he is gone, Mac looks at Stella. "Can you stay… again?"

"Sure, Mac."

"This isn't interfering with anything, right?"

"No. You're the only man I'd even consider staying in the same apartment with right now."

"I mean… it isn't going to affect our friendship, is it?"

She shakes her head, "Of course not. It's just one friend helping out another."

**A/N: Hope you guys like the story. I'm trying to write my personal experience essay for an honors application, but it's not going so well. Anyway... I'll post another chapter this weekend.**


	6. Targeted

**Chapter 6: Targeted**

Mac sits down on his couch and closes his eyes in an attempt to keep himself from thinking about the case. Just as he is beginning to relax, he hears Stella come into the room and sit down next to him.

"Tired?" she asks.

He opens his eyes, "Yeah."

"Can't get your brain to shut down?"

"Yeah. We've got nothing on this guy, and I don't think we're going to get anywhere with what little we do have."

"Maybe he'll make a mistake next time, and we'll get him."

"We can keep saying that, but all it's going to lead to is more dead women. This guy's smart; we won't catch him until he wants us to."

"Do you really think that this has something to do with me?" Stella brings her knees to her chest and looks at him.

"No," he shakes his head. "I'm sure it's just coincidence. We're desperate; I was just grasping for straws in order to catch him. I don't think he was talking about you in that note."

"So who could Star be?" Mac shrugs. "Maybe it's a girlfriend. Maybe she left him so he's killing all these women. And he'll stop when she comes back to him."

"But why leave the note in the victim's purse for the police to find? She's not going to get the message that way. Unless we go to the media. Nothing has been said about the case; maybe that's what he wants. It's probably the only way we're going to find Star."

"He's targeting specific women, Mac. Women that look like her. Both victims had wavy brown hair and green eyes. They were between five-five and five-ten and were similar sizes."

Mac studies her, "You do realize that you fit that description, right?"

"I thought we agreed that this has nothing to do with me. Besides, I'm not out on the streets of New York in the middle of the night; he's not going to kill me. And I have curly hair, Mac, not wavy."

"Okay. But I still don't want you going out in the middle of the night."

"If you start to have a nightmare, you'll know that I'm not here," she reasons.

He nods in agreement, "I think I'm going to go to bed. You're welcome to watch TV or whatever."

"No, I'm just going to go to bed. I'm too tired to do anything."

"Okay," he says, and they both head towards the bedroom. "Tomorrow you'll continue with the dentists. And maybe Flack and I will go to the media and see what we can do about locating Star. Or at least warning women to stay inside at night or not travel alone. I'll put Adam and Hawkes on the head wounds."

"I thought we agreed to sleep, not discuss the case some more?" she asks with a smirk on her face.

"Good night, Stella," Mac turns off his bedroom light before climbing into the bed beside her.

"Night, Mac."

*****

Mac is gone when Stella wakes up the following morning. Yawning, she climbs out of the bed and makes her way to the kitchen. A fresh pot of coffee is waiting for her, and next to a mug sits a note written in Mac's neat print. 'Another body found. Meet at the lab later. Mac,' she reads.

The detective pours herself a cup of coffee, and as she sips it, she looks around her partner's kitchen for something to eat. She sighs, finding oatmeal to be the only breakfast food he has. She hadn't eaten oatmeal since she had been in foster care, having become sick of it during her childhood because of its frequent appearance at breakfast time. And she was not about to start eating it again now.

Checking the time, she heads into the bathroom to shower and get herself ready for the day. She has over an hour until she has to be at the lab, and if she hurried, she would be able to stop for something a little more pleasant to eat than oatmeal.

*****

Meanwhile, Mac, Hawkes, and Don are busy at the third crime scene linked to the Vampire of New York City. "I think we need to go to the media, Flack. Maybe someone who knows the vampire or this Star person will come forward with the information. And we can warn the women of New York not to go out at night. I think they have a right to know what could happen to them if they do," Mac tells the homicide detective.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do about a press conference later."

Hawkes is going through the victim's purse as they are talking. He pulls out a stack of papers and slowly flips through them, "Hey, Mac, I think you need to see this."

"What did you find?" Mac puts on a pair of gloves and holds out his hand to take the pile from the former ME.

"Photographs. And you're not going to like who is in them."

"What do you mean?" he asks as he takes the pictures. The younger man does not answer as he finally lets his boss have the pile.

Mac studies Sheldon's face for a moment longer before looking down at the pictures in his hand. The top photograph shows two people walking out of a building. It takes him a moment to recognize the building as the one in which he lives. And that the two people in the photograph are him and Stella.


	7. Why?

**Chapter 7: Why?**

Mac enters her office without knocking, anger clearly visible on his face. "We need to talk, Stella."

"What did I do this time?" she asks cautiously, not wanting to make him angrier at her; she hates when they fight.

His expression softens at her worried look. "Sorry, you're not in trouble. I'm not mad at you. It's…" he cannot find the words to explain it to her.

"Then what do we need to talk about? I've only been here a half hour, Mac; I haven't gotten anywhere with the calls. I'll let you know if someone recognizes the dental work."

He pulls out a pile of evidence bags that each contain a photograph found in the latest victim's purse. She looks at him curiously for a moment before focusing on what he had given her.

"This is us leaving your apartment yesterday morning. Where'd you get this?" she frowns.

"The victim's purse. We think he left them there."

"But why is he taking pictures of us?" she asks, finding pictures of her at the first and second crime scenes, getting into her car, and leaving the lab as she flips through the photographs.

Mac takes the bottom picture and flips it over so that she can read a note written on the back in a messy scrawl.

"'SB, meet me tonight at Broadway and 9th to put an end to this. The Vampire of New York City,'" she reads.

"He is after you, Stella."

"Why? Why would anyone kill all these women just to get to me?"

"I don't know."

"Well, it can't be someone that we put away because he'd be in AFIS and CODIS. And if it was a relative, we'd still get a hit. So… maybe it's just some new crazy guy, and he picked me because… because…"

"Maybe you were right, Stella. Maybe it's a boyfriend that's trying to win you back."

"Frankie would be a great suspect if I hadn't killed him three years ago. And Drew is in prison, but I didn't even go out with him really. The only other person I've been with since Frankie is Brendon. We went out three or four times, but it was never really that serious."

"Maybe he wanted it to be serious."

"He seemed like a decent guy; I don't think he's behind this. And he's a firefighter, Mac; his prints and DNA would be on file."

Mac sighs, "Has anyone else asked you out in the past year or so?"

"Yeah, but I didn't get their names; I wasn't interested so…"

"Were any of them… strange?"

Stella frowns, "Interrogating me isn't going to get us anywhere, Mac. I swear I don't know who this person is or why I can put an end to this."

"Maybe he just randomly picked you. Maybe he was watching us at the crime scene and saw you. He didn't leave anything relating to you at the first scene."

"But the victim still looked like me. There are a lot of brunettes with green eyes out there, but it can't just be coincidence."

"Maybe he killed her because she wouldn't go out with him. And then when he saw you at the scene, you became his next target. Maybe he doesn't want to kill you; he just wants you to be his girlfriend or wife."

"Well, he definitely needs to find another way to meet women because killing people just isn't very appealing."

"Whatever his motive, I don't want you left alone," Mac informs her.

"Mac, I can take care of myself," she starts to protest.

"Stella, you don't stand a chance against him. He knocks his victims unconscious from behind; they don't even know what he's doing to them. I don't want to find your body in an alley somewhere with a bite mark on your neck."

"Maybe you should buy me some garlic then," she mumbles.

"That won't help because there's no such thing as vampires; this guy's just… pretending."

"I'd say he's pretty real. I mean, he's biting his victim's necks in the artery and drinking their blood, or so it appears. That sounds pretty real to me. And if he's not real, then there's no need for me to have your protection or anyone else's," Stella concludes. "Now, what we really need to be discussing is our plan for this evening so he doesn't escape."

"Whoa, who said you were going to meet him tonight?"

"He wants me to. And as of this moment, we have no other leads. If you want to catch this guy, you have to let me go, Mac."

"Absolutely not. We'll send an undercover officer."

She shakes her head, "He's smart, Mac. He's not going to come out unless he sees me there. Alone."

"I will not allow you to put yourself in danger, Stella. I don't care if I have to handcuff you to your desk to keep you from going," Mac glares at her.

"Then I'll go to the press. We'll see how happy Sinclair is when he receives lots of phone call about how the lab supervisor is not doing his job correctly," she threatens.

"Don't be ridiculous; there is no need for us to put one of our own in danger."

"If our positions were switched, you wouldn't let anything stop you from going."

He sighs, "One o'clock, Stella. If we don't have leads by one, we'll start planning this meeting."


	8. The Real First Victim

**Chapter 8: The Real First Victim**

At twelve-thirty, Mac calls all of them into the conference room to see how things are progressing. He has also ordered pizzas, knowing that they had been working hard all morning and had yet to take a lunch break. "Hawkes, Adam, have you found the weapon yet?" he asks.

"We're still trying to narrow it down," Adam says in between bites of pizza.

Hawkes adds, "It's not a traditional weapon like a baseball bat or a hammer."

"Is it the same on all the victims?" Stella asks.

"It doesn't look the same on the first two but that doesn't mean he didn't use different parts of the same weapon."

"Okay. Adam, you keep working on that. Hawkes, I want you to go see what Sid has found during the autopsy. Danny and Lindsay, is there any connection between the victims?"

"We haven't found anything yet. But we're going to go visit their apartments this afternoon, maybe talk to some friends and relatives," Danny answers.

"Don?" Mac continues down the line.

"I haven't heard anything from the hotline we set up. But the news has only been on once since we talked to them. People are busy at work; I don't expect anything until later on."

"Stella?"

She shakes her head, "I'm almost half way through the list. None of them recognize the teeth."

"Keep working on it. Don, I want you to go with Danny and Lindsay to the victims' apartments."

"Okay," the detective says, standing up to leave.

The other four follow him out, and as Stella tries to leave, Mac grabs her wrist. "Are you okay?" he softly asks her.

"I'm fine," she tries to pull away from him.

"You didn't eat anything."

"I wasn't hungry."

"You have to eat something if I'm going to let you go this evening." Her face becomes pale at the thought. His eyes go to her neck, "He hasn't started to suck your blood already, has he?"

"Mac…" she takes a deep breath, "I don't think I can do this."

"Do what?"

"Meet him. You're right; it's too dangerous."

"Wait, three hours ago you were mad at me because I wouldn't let you do it. And now you don't want to?"

She nods, "You got your wish, Mac. We've got no clue who this guy is, and I don't want to be kidnapped and… and… turned into a vampire or something because you can't find me."

"I don't want you to turn into a vampire either, Stella, because then I'd have to cut off your head and put a stake through your heart so you can rest in peace," Mac tells her, a small trace of a smile on his lips.

"You're not being very helpful here, Mac."

"I guess you've never read Dracula."

"You're supposed to be telling me that he's not going to kill me, that you won't let him. That as soon as a man approaches me, you'll come arrest him."

"Stella, I'm not going to make you do this. We'll find him."

"After all the brunettes in New York City have had their blood sucked out of them? When he finally decides to come after me because I'm clearly not going to give into his wishes? After he's killed me?"

He pulls her into a hug, "I won't let that happen to you, Stella. If he wants you, he's going to have to kill me first."

She wraps her arms around him tightly, "Don't say that, Mac."

They stay like that until there is a knock on the conference room door. As they separate, the receptionist enters, "I have someone that wants to talk to you, Detective Taylor. She thinks she might be able to help you with your case."

"Bring her here," Mac says, reaching over to clean off the table from their lunch.

"I guess I should get back to making phone calls," Stella heads to the door.

"You're welcome to stay if you want. Maybe she knows something that will help you figure out who this guy is."

"Help us, you mean," she smiles.

He nods, "Help _us_ figure out who figure out who he is."

A few moments later the receptionist returns with a young woman who has brown hair and green eyes. "Are you the detective working on the vampire case?" she asks timidly.

"Yes, I'm Detective Taylor, and this is Detective Bonasera," Mac offers his hand to the woman.

"I'm Sarah Palmer."

"Why don't you take a seat and tell us what you know?"

After they are all sitting, she says, "I… I was raped four… nights ago. I think it is the same man that is killing these women."

"Why do you think that?"

"I heard the story on the news. They said that he bites his victim's necks and sucks their blood. And that all his victims have brown hair and green eyes."

"Did he bite you?"

She pulls back her hair to reveal a bite mark on the side of her neck. "I thought it was kind of weird that he bit me. I mean, I know people do that, but he bit me hard, like he wanted it to bleed."

"Do you mind if I take a picture?" Stella asks, pulling out her phone.

"No."

Once she has a picture, Mac asks, "Can you identify the man that raped you?"

"No, I didn't know him. But I got a good look at his face; he didn't try to hide his identity with a mask or anything."

"Would you be willing to work with a sketch artist to help us come up with a face for him?"

"Sure."


	9. Peter Schultz

**Chapter 9: Peter Schultz**

Stella is in the middle of a phone call when Mac comes into her office. She holds up a hand to tell him to wait a minute while she finishes the call. "That would be great. Thanks for your time," she hangs up. "What's up, Mac?"

"I finished talking to our victim. It seems that he changed a few things before going for the next one. He never knocked her unconscious; after the struggle she put up, he probably decided to do so in order to avoid another mistake. She didn't die because he didn't bite her in the artery; she said she got away by kicking him and stomping on his foot with her heel."

"Why didn't she contact the police after it happened?"

"She said she was embarrassed and just wanted it to go away. But when she heard the story on the news, she thought she should come in and do what she could to help."

"I'm getting nowhere with these calls. No one recognizes the teeth. I'm waiting for five dentists to call back, and I've got one page of names left to go."

"Well, we've got a face. I'll have them put it on the news tonight, and maybe we'll get a name."

"How are Danny and Lindsay doing?"

He shakes his head, "There's nothing to connect them. I think he's just attacking random women that resemble you that are out at night."

"Did Sid and Hawkes find anything new with this victim?"

"An arm."

"What?"

"There was an arm from a figurine or something in her hair. We think it's from whatever he is knocking them unconscious with."

"A figurine wouldn't knock anyone unconscious."

"No," he agrees.

Stella's phone rings, "Detective Bonasera. You do? Okay, I'll be at your office soon. Thank you."

"What?" Mac asks as soon as she hangs up.

"He recognizes the teeth. He said he'd tell us about it if we go down to his office. We finally have a lead," she stands up and puts her jacket on.

"Stella, hold on a minute," he holds up a hand to keep her from leaving.

"Mac, we have to go. We might be able to catch this guy tonight and put an end to his killing."

"We will stop him. I just want to talk to you for a minute," he motions to the chairs in her office.

"What's wrong, Mac?" she slowly sits down.

"Nothing. I just think that it's not such a good idea for you to be there when we go to get him. He's after you, and you might know him."

"I already told you that I have no idea who this is, Mac. Why don't you believe me?"

"I do believe you when you say you don't know the identity of the vampire. But I think you do know the person who is doing this," he pulls out a folded piece of paper and hands it to her.

"What is this?"

"A copy of the sketch of the man that raped Sarah Palmer."

Slowly Stella opens the paper and looks at the sketch. She remains silent, staring at the picture.

"Do you know him?"

She nods, "He was my neighbor… before the fire. I don't know where he is now."

"Were you friends with him?"

"I'd talk to him in the hallway or the elevator. I made him dinner once… shortly before the fire. His mother had died of cancer a couple days before so I cooked him dinner."

"Did he ever… make a move on you?"

She shakes her head, "No, he'd hold doors and stuff for me like you do, but he never asked me out or touched me or anything."

"Did you ever do anything to make him think that you liked him as more than a friend?"

"No… I kissed his cheek that night we had dinner, but it was like me kissing your cheek. It meant nothing. Why are you interrogating me about this, Mac?"

"Do you have his name?" he ignores her question.

"Peter. I don't remember his last name. And he didn't have fangs when I knew him."

*****

"Peter Schultz. He came in about a month ago and asked if I could create a pair of fangs for him. He seemed like a normal guy so I asked him why he wanted them. He said he worked in the entertainment business. I didn't ask any more questions. He paid for it himself since it's obviously not something insurance would cover," the dentist hands over his file.

"How strong are these teeth?"

"Not much stronger than an average adult's."

"Strong enough to penetrate the skin?"

"Yes. Ordinary teeth could do that; the fangs just make it a little easier."

"Thank you, Doctor," Mac exits, Stella following close behind. He pulls out his cell phone to make a call, "Adam, can you get us an address on Peter Schultz?" A few minutes later he hangs up and places another call, this one to Flack.

"Mac, where are we going? His apartment is the other way," she asks, confused.

He pulls to a stop in front of his own apartment building, "Get out. Go up to my apartment and stay there until I tell you you can leave."

"You can't do this to me, Mac," she argues, not making a move to get out of the car.

"I will not let him see you, Stella. He wants to kill you. Now get out of the car."

"You don't know that. We don't have any idea why he wants me to meet him. Besides, you can't go alone."

"Flack and the others will be there by the time I get there. Please, Stel, just do this for me."

Scowling she gets out of the car, "Fine. But you're taking me home the moment you get back here."


	10. Stuck Together

**Chapter 10: Stuck Together**

"Stella, pick up the phone," Mac says into his answering machine. "Fine, don't talk to me. We didn't catch your friend; he wasn't at home or work. There's uniforms to arrest him when he does arrive. I'm on my way home now."

She listens as he leaves the message, trying to decide what to do. Finally she makes her choice. She writes him a quick message before heading to his door, closing it softly behind her as she leaves.

*****

Mac unlocks his apartment door and walks in. There is no sign of life. "Stella?" he calls out. There is no response. "You can't stay mad at me forever," he says, walking down the hallway to the bedroom to look for her. Not finding her, he rushes back to the kitchen and living room. She isn't there either. "Stella?" he calls again, worried.

Then he sees the single piece of paper on his counter. "'I have to know why. Sorry. Stella,'" he reads to himself. He hits his head against the refrigerator, angry with himself for not realizing that she would leave. He curses himself for not handcuffing her to her desk that morning when she had first suggested fulfilling the vampire's request.

He checks his watch: eight-thirty. The vampire hadn't specified a time; maybe he wouldn't be making his appearance until later. Mac runs back to his car, hoping he gets to Stella before the vampire does.

*****

Spotting his partner, the lab supervisor parks his truck and starts walking toward her. She is close to the building, leaving room for pedestrians to walk by, and looking in the opposite direction, the direct way for the vampire to come if coming from home or work.

Silently he comes up behind her, one arm going around her waist and the other hand covering her mouth. As he tries to lead her back to his car, she struggles with him, trying to peel his arms off of her. When she is unsuccessful, she elbows him in the ribs. He lets go of her, surprised at the force she hit him with.

Now free, she whirls around to face her attacker, "Mac! What are you doing here?"

"Saving your butt."

"My butt doesn't need saving."

"Yes, it does, Stella. You're standing on a street corner in New York. Waiting for a man to come see you. A man who has raped four woman and killed three of them. A man who is pretending to be a vampire and sucking people's blood. Now that sounds a little dangerous to me. And I'm sure any sane person would agree with me," he reaches for her arm, but she backs away from him.

"I just want to know why he's doing this."

"You can ask him once we have him in custody."

"You could have caught him tonight, Mac. But I'm sure you've ruined it. All you had to do was sit in your truck and wait for him to approach me."

"Every officer is on the lookout for him; he's not going to evade us much longer."

Stella sighs, leaning back against the building behind her. "Why are you doing this, Mac? I can look after myself."

"Because you are my friend, and I care about you, and I don't want anything to happen to you. If I managed to sneak up on you, I'm sure he could've."

"I wasn't expecting you to come here. And you got what you deserved for sneaking up on me," she reaches out and pokes him in the ribs, right where she elbowed him.

"Ow," he frowns at her. "Did you seriously think I was just going to sit at home and wait for you to come back?"

"No. But I thought there would be fifty police cars, all with their lights and sirens going, to announce your arrival."

"If he was here already, that just would've made him run off with you."

"So… can I get a ride home with you?"

"No. I will take you back to my apartment. After that stunt you pulled, you are not going home."

"What?"

"You disobeyed me; how am I supposed to know that you won't run off again? Besides, your actions are just going to cause worse nightmares for me."

"So I have to be your teddy bear again because you're an insomniac?"

"Teddy bear? I don't think teddy bears hurt people, Stella," he rubs his sore ribs.

She smiles, "I'd be more than willing to give you a matching bruise on the other side."

He leads her to the car with a hand on her back, "That's not necessary."

*****

Stella is sitting in bed when Mac walks in, handcuffs in hand. "Going to sleep?"

He nods as he climbs in beside her. As she extends her hand forward to turn the TV off with the remote, he clasps the handcuff around her wrist.

"What are you doing?" she asks, looking at him nervously.

"Making sure you can't go anywhere," he attaches the other ring to his wrist.

"Mac, this is completely unnecessary," she protests. "What if there's a fire or something and we have to get out of the building? What will people think? What will the guys think if they find out about this?"

"They won't, Stella. I have the key right here," he holds it up to show her.

She reaches out to grab it from him, but he moves it away too quickly. "Mac, you are being ridiculous."

"No, I am not," he puts the key in his shirt pocket. "Oh, I forgot to brush my teeth," he slides over to the edge of the bed to get out, taking her with him.

She stands impatiently while he brushes his teeth, "Nobody brushes their teeth for two minutes, Mac. Just spit so we can go to sleep."

He turns the water on and leans over to spit. The key falls out of his pocket, hitting the sink with a clang, before it is washed down the drain, the two detectives motionlessly staring at it.

Stella looks up at him, "That's not good."

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for last chapter. Happy Thanksgiving. I think there are five more chapter to this story... but for some reason I haven't edited them yet. So I'll try to do that before break is over and get another one posted.**


	11. No One Will Find Out

**Chapter 11: No One Will Find Out... **

"Here, put this on your wrist and try to slide it out," Mac hands her the container of butter from the fridge.

"Why me? This was your stupid idea, not mine."

"Because your hand is smaller than mine; it's more likely yours will slide out."

Glaring at him, she spreads the butter on her wrist and pulls the handcuff with her free hand. It doesn't move much.

"Let's try this," he walks to his one of the cabinets, pulling her with him, and takes out a can of Pam cooking spray.

"What am I supposed to do with that?"

Instead of answering, he sprays it over her entire hand. "Now try to pull it off."

This time the handcuff almost goes up to her knuckles before getting stuck. She pushes it back down to her wrist. "I guess we'll just have to drive to the lab and get the other key."

"No, we'll get some sleep; it's been a long day. We'll wake up early and go in before anyone else will be there."

"What if there's another body?"

"Danny and Lindsay are supposed to be on call tonight."

"So? Don will probably call you if it's the same MO. You always want to be there to process in serial cases," she drags him over to the sink so she can wash her hand off.

Mac drags her back to his bedroom and climbs into the bed. "Get some sleep, Stella."

She just stands there, watching him.

"What's wrong? Other than that we're handcuffed together?"

"How am I supposed to get over to my side?"

He sighs and scoots over, "I guess we have to switch sides tonight."

She climbs in and frowns, "You're side is too lumpy, Mac. I don't like it."

"Just go to sleep, Stella. It's one night."

"I think you owe me for this, Taylor."

"Stella, quit complaining," he rolls onto his side, his back facing her so he can get some sleep. Her arm is pulled over towards him. She moves onto her side, pulling his arm towards her. A few minutes later she rolls onto her stomach to sleep, his arm now draped uncomfortably across her back. Mac rolls onto his back and stares at her.

"I can't sleep with you staring at me," she says, her eyes still closed.

"I can't sleep with my arm like this," he counters.

"Not my fault," she mumbles.

"Scoot over; you can have you side back," he says, crawling over her to get to his own side.

She opens her eyes and finds him on top of her, "What are you doing?"

"Getting back to my side. Now scoot over."

She finally concedes, and they both try their hardest to go to sleep despite the uncomfortable conditions.

*****

When the alarm clock goes off at six o'clock, the detectives slowly open their eyes and immediately jump apart from each other when they discover their position. Stella had been resting her head on Mac's chest, her handcuffed arm draped across his stomach. His free hand had been around her waist.

"I guess we should shower," Mac says, trying not to think of how awkward that will be.

"How are we going to get our clothes off?" she looks down at their hands.

"Oh… I guess we'll shower at the lab."

"Okay, let's hurry up and get to work before the others so no one finds out about this."

They scramble around his apartment, getting what they need before heading out to the car. Thankfully no one notices the handcuffs.

"I'll drive," Mac offers, heading to the driver's side.

"That's not going to work. I'm stuck on your left; the only way you're driving is if we both cram into the driver's seat," Stella points out.

"Okay, you can drive," he turns around and heads toward the passenger side while she heads to the driver's side. They are forced back together by the handcuffs. "I guess you're climbing over into the driver's seat."

"Why me? You're perfectly capable of climbing over to your side."

"Because you're smaller."

She glares at him, "You better be a fast runner, Mac, because I'm going to shoot you as soon as we're not attached to each other."

Mac opens the door for her, "How many times do I have to apologize for this? I just did it to keep you safe."

She gets into the car, yanking him in head first as she climbs over the consol. "I don't care how many times you apologize. I'm still going to shoot you." Once he is situated, she turns the car on and begins to drive.

Half an hour later the couple is getting off the elevator in the lab. They head straight to Mac's office, thankful that few people are at work at the early hour. The key is in the center drawer of his desk, off to the left side. He removes the handcuff from his own wrist before taking her hand to remove the other cuff from her wrist. "You, uh, don't have your gun with you, do you?"

"Just take it off, Mac."

"Why didn't anybody tell me it's pajama day?" Flack smirks, sticking his head into the office.

"Don… it's a long story," Mac says, finally taking the cuff off of Stella. She slaps him on the head as hard as she can before hurrying out of the office and into the locker room.

"I guess she prefers doing the cuffing to being cuffed," the smirk on his face grows.

"It's not what you think. She… she went to meet him last night. I got to her before he did thankfully. And I handcuffed her to me so she wouldn't get away again. Then the key fell down the drain. I guess it was a stupid idea."

"She won't stay mad at you forever. Anyway, there's a fourth body. I'll call Danny, and you and Stella can meet us at the scene when you're done cleaning up."

**A/N: Sorry I didn't update sooner. I've been busy with homework. But... I can't wait until next week's episode. It looks pretty good. But then I don't want Wednesday to come because I have to do a college interview then. Anyway... thanks for all the reviews. I'll try to post the next chapter over the weekend.**


	12. The Meeting

**Chapter 12: The Meeting**

"There's another body," Mac informs her when she comes out of the shower area. "Found three blocks from where he wanted to meet you."

Her gaze falls to the ground, "I guess I should thank you for coming to get me."

"It's what we do. I'm just glad that it's not your body that we're finding this morning."

"Mac," she lifts her eyes to meet his, "I wasn't going to leave. You didn't have to handcuff us together."

"I know. It's just… you can get emotional on some cases and sometimes that… clouds your judgment," he carefully chooses his words. "I just didn't want anything to happen to you; you're my best friend."

"Thank you," Stella hugs him. "I'm sorry for hitting you. I was more mad at myself for going to meet him than I was at you."

"It's okay. Now… let's go catch a murderer," he opens the door and leads her from the locker room.

*****

"What have you found so far?" Mac asks as he and Stella duck under the crime scene tape.

"We believe this is what he is knocking the victims unconscious with," Lindsay hands them an evidence bag that contains a trophy, one arm from the football player on top of it missing.

"He played football; I remember seeing some trophies like this and his letter from high school while in his apartment," the boss confirms.

She nods, "But why'd he leave it here? He's always taken it with him."

"Maybe he's giving up…"

Danny stands, a piece of paper in his hands, "Mac, this was in the vic's pocket."

He puts on gloves before taking the paper. A familiar handwriting covers the post-it note. "Noon, 7391 Broadway. Send her alone, or I'll turn her into a vampire. V of NYC," Mac reads to himself. He looks up to find Stella looking curiously at him. "You two finish processing; Stella and I will take care of this," he instructs, placing the note in a bag before leading his partner back to his truck.

"What's going on, Mac?" she asks as soon as they are both inside the Avalanche. He hands her the bag with the note, and she reads it.

"We have some planning to do; we're going to arrest him today."

"I suppose… you want me to meet him today?"

His eyes meet hers, "It's completely up to you. I'm not going to make you do anything. We can go in and arrest him at noon, and I can let you talk to him alone in interrogation if you want. Or… I'll let you go in first, talk to him, and we'll come in and arrest him after a few minutes. Whatever you want, Stella."

"I… don't know," she looks back down at the note. "He can't really… turn me into a vampire, can he?"

He shakes his head, "Not really. Now, he could knock you unconscious, turn your teeth into fangs, and bite your neck. But… you won't really be a vampire. And I won't let him turn you into a vampire, not even a fake one."

She reaches over and takes his hand, "Mac, I feel like I need to go in and talk to him first. I need answers and… who knows what he's going to do after we arrest him."

"Okay, we'll go to the station, work out the details so we're ready at noon," Mac starts his car.

*****

Stella looks out the window as they pull up outside the building, "I think we've got the right place." She points to the picture of the bat on the outside of the abandoned building.

He notices her hand shaking. "You don't have to do this, Stel," he gently tells her.

"I know. It just… feels like I should," she reaches for the door handle.

Both detectives get out of the car and head to the trunk. He pulls out their bullet proof vests, which they put on while the other officers are getting prepared. Mac looks at her for a moment, then at his CSI jacket next to the other equipment. "You know this wasn't exactly the best day to choose to wear a tank top, Stella," he hands her the jacket.

She frowns, "What?"

"Put the jacket on and make it less tempting for him to bite you neck."

"I don't think that's going to do any good," she starts to protest.

"For me?" Sighing, she puts it on over her vest. Her neck is still somewhat exposed. "Maybe you should take your hair down too."

She does so, "That better?"

He nods, reaching out to pin a microphone to the inside of the jacket. "If you want us to come in before the ten minutes are up, just… give us some kind of clue."

She nods, "Vampire?"

"Okay," he stores the keyword in his head as he checks her gun. As he hands the weapon to her, he says, "Don't hesitate to shoot if he tries anything."

"Mac, I don't think I can kill him."

"Stella, you're the best shooter I know. You don't have to aim to kill him, just… to stop him."

She checks her watch, "Well, I guess I should probably go inside."

Mac tries to give her a smile, "Be careful."

"Everyone's in place," Flack walks over to them. "You two ready?"

"Yeah," she takes a deep breath and releases it.

As she and Flack turn the building, Mac grabs her arm and pulls her into a hug. "I won't let anything happen to you," he whispers in her ear.

"I'm going to be fine, Mac," she assures, realizing how hard it is for him to let her walk in there alone after his nightmares. "Everything will be okay."

"I know," he kisses her cheek before letting her go.

She gives him a reassuring smile before heading toward the abandoned building. She opens the door, steps inside, and lets it close behind her, surrounding her in darkness.


	13. The Bite

**Chapter 13: The Bite**

"Peter?" she calls nervously. Silence and darkness answer. She considers turning around and leaving the building but realizes she wouldn't be able to find the door very well in the dark. "Peter?" she calls again.

"Hello, Stella," a voice right next to her ear says, startling her. Before she can respond, she is blinded by light. "I knew you would come."

"I have to know why you're doing this, Peter. Why?"

"For you."

"But… why me? What do you want from me?"

"I love you, Stella; I want to spend my life with you," he reaches out to touch her face.

She backs away, "Why didn't you just tell me? What do you need the fangs and the blood sucking and the murdering for?"

"To get your attention. I had to compete with that guy you're always with."

"Peter, I… I don't love you."

"Oh… Well, do you love him?"

"Mac? No, he's my partner; we work in the crime lab together."

"Is there someone else then?"

"No."

"You can learn to love me."

"I thought you were a decent guy, Peter, I really did. But… I can't think that now; you've raped five women and drank the blood from four of them. That's just… not normal."

"I don't want to hurt you," he takes a step closer to her and places his hand on her arm, trying to reassure her. "I can get rid of the fangs. And now that you're with me, I don't have to hurt anyone else."

"But you did. You can stop doing it, but you still killed four women; I can't look past that. And the police have this place surrounded; you're not going to get away."

"They wouldn't dare enter while you're in here," he says, pulling her down the hallway, further into the building.

"I don't know about that. They could come in at any moment."

Peter looks around nervously and realizes she has a gun. Before she has time to react to his movements, he holds her gun. "Give me your handcuffs," he demands.

"You said you wouldn't hurt me."

"You tricked me; I thought you loved me. And now I'm going to take you away from him so you know how it feels. Give me your handcuffs," he presses the gun to her chest.

She complies, letting him handcuff her hands behind her back, "What is taking me away going to do?"

"You'll know how it feels to be without the person you love."

"For a few minutes there I thought I could love you," Stella lies. "But now I realize that you really are just a vampire."

The front doors of the building slam open, and the police officers run in, Mac and Don in the lead. Peter drags her to the stairwell, pressing her gun to her head. Hurriedly he starts to back up the stairs, holding her in front of him for protection. When Mac and Flack reach the bottom of the stairwell, he stops moving. "Don't come any closer, or I'll kill her," he threatens.

"Peter, I know you don't want to do that. Just let go of her and turn yourself in."

"No, I can't be separated from her again. I'll kill both of us," he moves the gun to his own temple.

"No, Peter. Let her go. Walk slowly down the stairs," Flack instructs, more officers joining them at the bottom of the stairs.

The vampire wraps his arm around her to keep her still and brushes her curls from the side of her neck. Then he positions his mouth on her neck, kissing her before sinking his teeth into her flesh.

"No," Mac yells. A gunshot rings out from behind him, and he watches as the bullet flies toward his partner, hitting her right in the heart. Peter lets go of her, blood on his teeth, and she rolls down the steps.

As three officers rush up the steps to arrest Peter, Flack yells as the young officer who decided to fire his weapon even though he did not have a clear shot.

Mac wants to wring the man's neck for shooting his partner, but he knows the he must first do what he can to save Stella. He tears the CSI jacket, trying to get to the wound, surprised that there isn't any blood except that coming from her neck. He quickly opens up her vest but is even more astonished to find no blood on her shirt. Frowning, he realizes that there isn't even a hole in her shirt. Perplexed, Mac looks at her vest again: the bullet is embedded in the vest and had not penetrated her body.

Relieved, he turns to the wound on her neck. The vampire had failed to bite her in the artery, thank goodness, but the wound was still pretty deep for a bite and would need to be looked at. He places his hand over the wound and gently applies pressure, not wanting to cut off her air supply. Finally he is able to look at her face and finds that she is unconscious. "Don, call an ambulance," he yells, tapping her cheek to try to wake her.

"Come on, Stella, wake up," Mac pleads. "You have to make it through this. You promised."

Slowly she opens her eyes, blinking a couple times at the bright lights. "What happened?" she whispers.

**A/N: I finally decided I should edit these chapters so I can post them. Two more chapters to go, so I'll post the next one Wednesday. I'm going to go read and edit my rought draft of my research paper and make sandwiches for lunch now... Please keep reviewing. Thanks.**


	14. Afraid of the Truth

**Chapter 14: Afraid of the Truth**

"Are you with Ms. Bonasera?" a doctor approaches Mac. He nods. "We cleaned the wound on her neck, put a few stitches in. We've x-rayed and done a CT scan on her head; there was no internal damage, but we think she suffered a mild concussion during her fall. Her left wrist was sprained so we've put a brace on that; if it doesn't heal in a week, we'll put a cast on it. Other than that, she is just bruised from falling down the steps. I am willing to release her as long as she has someone staying with her."

"Can I see her?" Mac asks.

"I'll have a nurse take you back while I finish the paperwork," he says, calling a nurse over to escort the detective.

Stella has her good hand on her head, wincing, when he walks in. "Are you okay?" he asks, a little worried.

"I have a massive bump on my head," she lets her hand fall into her lap. "Trying to go to sleep isn't going to be fun."

"The doctor says you have a mild concussion."

"Mild? They all thought it was severe; they were looking at me like I was crazy when I asked if I was shot. I mean, I don't feel any pain except for in my head, but I'm sure they gave me tons of painkillers. I was shot, wasn't I?" she looks at him.

He smiles, "Yes and no."

"What?"

"You were shot at, but the bullet didn't go through your vest."

"Are you sure, Mac? He was standing at the bottom of the steps, fifteen feet from me at most. The bullet should have gone through the vest."

"The bullet would have hit you right in the heart, and you're still here."

She lifts the collar of her hospital gown up so she can see the flesh above her heart; no mark is there. "Who shot me?" Stella looks at him curiously.

He shrugs, "I don't know his name; he's some young officer still in training… Actually, I think Flack said something about your friend, Rogers, being his trainer."

"So do you think Sinclair would let me use him for target practice?" she asks with a smirk on her face.

"Probably not. But I'd be more than willing to go threaten him for you."

"That's okay, Mac. I like my idea better."

The doctor enters, "You are free to go. But take it easy for a couple days. And don't hesitate to come back here if things get worse." He hands her a bag with her belongings before leaving.

"I'll wait outside while you dress," Mac says, heading to the door.

A few minutes later she joins him. "I suppose you're not letting me go home tonight."

"Doctor's orders," he puts his hand on her back and leads her out of the hospital.

"I assume you guys got Peter."

"Flack was going to question him. He, uh, wasn't crazy when you knew him, right?"

"No, I think it's just me. For some reason all these men around me keep going crazy. Actually, I'm quite surprised that you haven't become psychotic yet, Mac; I mean, we've been working together for… thirteen years now and you're still semi-normal."

"Why only semi? I've never tried to kill you."

"Well, you're definitely not normal, Mac."

He helps her get into the car, "So… do you want to go back to my place or stop by the lab or… get something to eat or…?"

"It doesn't matter," she says, leaning her head back against the headrest, wincing at the pain.

"Stella, I have to ask you something. He said he wanted you to know what it feels like to be without the person you love. Who was he talking about?"

She bites her lips, not wanting to tell him that it was him. "I don't know, Mac. He's… crazy. He thought I was in love with… someone and turned himself into a vampire to get my attention. This whole thing was just a big misunderstanding. I shouldn't have kissed him on the cheek."

He sighs, not sure how to tell her that he loves her. "Stella… I… I'm really glad you're okay. And I'm sorry for not protecting you," he chickens out.

"It's okay; there's nothing you could have done to keep him from doing what he did," she takes his hand and squeezes it reassuringly.

"I think I'm going to take you home and let you rest if you don't want to do something else."

"That's fine with me."

Twenty minutes later they stop outside his building. "Can I cook dinner for us tonight?"

She looks over at him, "Oatmeal? Because that's the only thing you have in your apartment."

"No, I mean real food. Unless you don't trust me to cook."

"Okay."

He hands her his keys, "You go on up to my apartment. I'll run to the store down the street and pick up some food. I'll be gone half an hour at most." He gets out of the car and comes over to her side to help her, but she is already out. Mac stares at her for a moment, hoping that he is doing the right thing, "You'll be there when I get back, right?"

She smiles, "I'm not going anywhere, Mac."

*****

When Mac returns, he sets the groceries down on the kitchen counter. He can see her curly head of hair leaning against the back of the couch in the living room, "You need anything, Stel?"

"No, I'm fine," she replies, not looking up.

He goes about the kitchen, putting a pot of water on the stove to boil for the noodles. Then he begins to prepare the sauce and the chicken. Half an hour later he sets two plates on the table and pours them each a glass of wine. Then he goes to get her. She is still on the couch, a book in her lap. "What are you reading?" he asks, causing her to jump.

"_Dracula_," she holds the book up for him to see.

"Hm… well, dinner is ready," he offers her a hand to help her up.

**A/N: One chapter left... I'l post it over the weekend. Right now I have to figure out what I should get my friend for christmas...**


	15. The Act of Vampirism

**Chapter 15: The Act of Vampirism**

"Mac, this was really nice. Thank you. And thanks for putting up with me," she brings her plate over to the sink to help him do the dishes.

"I'm the one that asked you to stay. And I have to pay you somehow for your services," he smirks, returning to their conversation earlier in the week.

"I thought we agreed that I no longer owe you for making you do dumpster duty. Besides, you're taking care of me; I think that's enough payment."

"Well, I couldn't let you stay in the hospital over night knowing how much you hate them. And you don't have to help me with the dishes, Stel. You only have one hand so you might as well save it for doing paperwork this week."

"Mac," she starts to protest.

He presses his finger to her lips, "No arguing."

"Fine," she leans back against the counter to wait for him to finish.

When he is done, he takes her hands in his, "Stella… I need to talk to you."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he assures. "It's just… things have changed. You know how Peter turned into a vampire because he lost you?"

"More or less," she agrees.

"Well… if I were to lose you, I think I could turn into a monster too. If it wasn't for you, I'm sure I would have become a monster after Claire's death. You're the one who keeps me sane, Stella. I don't think I could survive this job without you."

"Mac, I'm flattered by this and all, but I really don't think you would do what he did. It's just… not you, even if I wasn't here with you."

"The point I'm trying to make is that you mean a lot to me, Stel. You're more than my best friend," he pauses, not sure how to express himself.

"You're important to me too, Mac," she says, not sure where this conversation is going.

He takes a deep breath, "I love you, Stella. You're the most important person in the world to me, and without you, I'd be worthless." To his surprise, she does not yank her hands from his and storm away, their friendship ruined. However, she does not say anything either. "I… I know you told Peter you don't love me. And I'm really sorry if you don't and I've just wrecked the past thirteen years of our lives," Mac apologizes, slowly starting to pull his hands out of hers.

Suddenly her grip on his hands tightens, refusing to let him leave her. "I love you too, Mac," she whispers, her emerald eyes rising to meet his blue-gray ones.

Mac smiles, "You're not just saying this to make me feel better, are you?"

She lets go of his hands and wraps her arms around his neck, "No, I wouldn't lie to you about this."

He kisses her cheek before putting his arms around her waist. They stand like that for several minutes before he slowly starts to back away. "I, uh, suppose I should take you home so this isn't awkward for us. We should probably do this right."

"Probably. But we don't have to," she leans forward and kisses the corner of his mouth. "After all, we've known each other for thirteen years."

"But how do we know it's going to work out? We can't go back to just friends once we…"

"Mac, I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my entire life. We can make it work," she lets her hand slide down the front of his shirt.

"You're sure this is what you want?" he asks timidly, trying his hardest not to give in and kiss her yet.

"I want it if you do."

Mac slowly leans forward, tilting his head as their lips connect. The kiss is gentle and passionate at first, until he realizes how much he really loves her. He backs her out of the kitchen and presses her back against the wall of the hall, carefully placing one hand between her head and the wall. His other hand caresses the skin of her back where her shirt rose up.

She opens her mouth, allowing his tongue to enter her mouth, as her fingers unbutton his shirt. His hand leaves her head to explore her body, and his lips leave hers, trailing from her ear down her neck. Gently he bites her neck, the side not bitten by the vampire, and soothes it with kisses. Suddenly he pulls away, realizing what he has done. She opens her eyes at the loss of contact, confused.

"Stella, I… didn't mean to. It… slipped my mind."

"It's okay, Mac," she cups his cheek in her hand.

"Did you, um… read the introduction to _Dracula_… by any chance?"

"Yes. And what you just did does not constitute as us sleeping together, Mac. You didn't suck my blood. And for that matter, what Peter did was not sex either. Yes, he violated me, but not in that way. And just for the record, I think you are way more tempting and handsome than Peter. Or Count Dracula for that matter."

"So you're completely okay if we go on?"

"Mac, shut up and get back over here," she spins him around, his back now to the wall as she presses her lips to his. Her hands pull his shirt off his shoulders, and he is reluctant to remove his hands from her in order to take it off completely. He gently tugs her shirt upward, and their lips have to part for a moment so he can remove it.

Stella feels a pair of strong, muscular arms wrap around her waist and lift her up. Their lips now reconnected, Mac carries her into the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind them.

**A/N: Well, it's all over. I have another story that I'll post maybe Monday called Say When. It's kind of based on the first episode of the season and does contain Adam and Stella but definitely does not end with those two together. And I'm working another story now to post around Christmas. And then I'm out of stories, but I have like four other ones started... Anyway... thanks to all of you that read my story and especially to those of you that reviewed. Please feel free to tell me you final thoughts.**


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